Chicago
by dayana82
Summary: Derek has to go back to Chicago - undercover to solve a rough case. MorganGarcia, of course.
1. Back home

**Title: **Back home

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #4 Months

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 1/10 of the Chicago series. Derek has to go back to Chicago – undercover to solve a rough case.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _I know, it's been a long time again and this is so not an update but the beginning of another story. What can I say? When I signed for all those challenges it seemed like a good idea. Anyways, in about a months I'm gonna have a two weeks holiday – and I already know how to use it. ;) Until then, I hope you enjoy this one as much as the other stories. I'll update – eventually – and I promise to at least try and hurry._

"The Chicago P.D. has a problem." Hotch started the meeting this morning. "They've been after a child murderer for three months now but he always seems to be a step ahead of the police."

"There are eleven victims so far." JJ jumped in and clicked so that the pictures of them appeared on the screen. "All boys between the age of five and twelve, all white, blonde and with blue eyes. All of them were taken from a local super market, held hostages for about five days during which they were abused and tortured. Eventually, they were suffocated and the bodies dumped near their parents' house."

"So they want us to do a profile?" Derek guessed.

"Yes", Hotch affirmed, "but that's not all they want. They set up a trap for him. The bait was a boy about seven years old, the son of one of the police officers. They knew from where the guy picked his victims and which type he preferred, everything was perfect but the guy didn't show up four days in a row. Instead he took another child from a nearby kindergarten. They assume that someone warned him."

"So they must have a mole in their department." Emily jumped in.

"Apparently, yes." Hotch nodded and then turned to Derek: "They want you to investigate that undercover. They really need to catch this guy and if one of their police officers is working with him they certainly never will."

"And since I once was a cop in Chicago…" Derek added.

"Your flight will depart in six hours." Hotch nodded.

"How long am I gonna stay there?" he wanted to know.

Hotch frowned slightly: "Officially you're transferred to Chicago for the next three months – but if we catch this guy sooner…"

"Alright, I'll go, pack some things and then call my mom." he sighed.

"We'll try to come up with a profile in the meantime." Hotch replied. "Reid, you'll do the demographic profile! Prentiss, you and Garcia do the victimology. Try to find commonalities the local P.D. might have missed! JJ, call Detective Gordinski and tell him to send us a list of people who in his opinion might be the mole!"

Nodding all of them rose and left the table. About three and a half hours later they met again for a last briefing.

"You know the protocol considering undercover missions." it was a statement from Hotch, not a question.

"Sure thing", Derek shrugged, "it's not the first time I've gone undercover."

"This is our first profile." Hotch said as he handed Derek the file. "We'll stay in contact but it's better if no one knows that you're calling the FBI. That's why we'll always call Detective Gordinski with any updates on the profile of the UnSub. He officially asked the FBI for help in this case."

"But anything about the assumed mole will only be passed between us." Derek added.

Nodding Hotch replied: "That means we have to come up with a logical excuse for you to call one of us."

"How about I call my girlfriend?" Derek shrugged and waggled his eyebrows at Garcia who was sitting next to him. "Seriously, no one will notice any difference and I won't have to play-act when we talk to each other."

"I agree." Hotch affirmed. "You two already behave like a couple."

Everyone looked at him strangely. Then Derek smirked: "Hey, was that a joke?"

One corner of Hotch's mouth went upwards almost not noticeable. "You're dismissed. Shall someone take you to the airport?"

"I'll take him." Penelope stated and got up.

Smiling Derek followed her out of the room. "See you in a few months – or weeks if I'm lucky." he winked at his teammates.

The drive to the airport was unusually quiet and Derek was almost sure he knew what Penelope was thinking about.

"Are you okay with this?" she suddenly asked as she pulled into the parking lot.

"Your driving skills are not that bad." he chuckled.

"Very funny." she grimaced at him, got out and headed for the waiting hall. "I wasn't talking about me driving you to the airport."

Sighing he followed her. He hadn't meant to offend her, just to lighten up the mood a little. "I know." Derek replied when they'd arrived in the hall, all serious again, and took her hand in his. "And I'm grateful that you worry so much about me but you don't need to, I'll be fine."

"Really?" she asked quietly and squeezed his hand. After all he had to go back to his home town to chase a child murderer. He was even going to stay with his mom during this case and he had to work with Gordinski. That would surely awake many bad memories.

"I will be fine." Derek assured and reached out to cup her cheek with his hand. "I have you to take care of me, you're my solace, remember."

"God-given." she added voicelessly. "Don't forget about that."

"Never." he smiled and brushed the tear away that had escaped her eye.

"Sorry", she sniffled slightly, "I just don't do goodbyes."

"It's just for three months, maybe even less." Derek tried to console her.

"I know." Penelope sighed. "Just promise me to come back in one piece."

"I'll do my best." he smirked.

Seeing him smirk like that Penelope suddenly realized that this was probably the last time in a very long while she would see that almost childish look on his face and she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. So she quickly looked down to keep Derek from seeing her so weak. Even though she knew that it certainly wouldn't help, he would know immediately what was going on. Not only because he was a profiler, but because he knew her.

Derek thought he couldn't trust his eyes anymore when he realized that Penelope was actually crying. She cried because he was leaving!

"Hey." he whispered soothingly, took a step towards her and placed his hand under her chin. "It's just gonna be a few months at most. I'll be back in no time at all."

"I know." she sniffled. "And I know that it's stupid but I also know that I'm gonna miss you like hell."

Smiling Derek leaned down and placed an almost not noticeable kiss on her lips: "I'm gonna miss you too, baby girl."

"Yeah, the thing is, you'll have a nice chick to take your mind off of that in no time at all." Penelope bit her lip. She hadn't meant that as harshly as it had escaped her mouth.

"There's only one Penelope Garcia." Derek replied in a low voice just as his flight was announced. "I love you, baby girl, you know that."

"Yeah, I know." she sniffled again and pulled him into a tight hug. "I love you too, handsome." She watched him leave and mumbled: "More than you'll ever know."


	2. Homesick

**Title: **Homesick

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #8 Weeks

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 2/10 of the Chicago series. Derek needs someone to talk him into sleep.

**warnings:** none

**AN: **_My dear faithful readers,_

_I thought for once in my life I could pretend to be decent. ;) I can't thank all of you enough for hanging in there with me no matter how long it takes me to finally update again. As most of you know I've been kind of having a hard time lately and you all helped me get through it. I keep telling myself that things can only get better, but the thing is, they don't. At least not entirely._

_But I didn't want to write this note to complain. My life is still great and you all do your best to keep it that way with all the support you send me through reviews or by putting my stories onto your favorite or alert lists. Thank you so much! All of you are the reason I still enjoy writing and posting so much no matter how stressful the rest of my life might be at the moment._

_Now, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little fluff for a change._

_Massive hugs to all of you,_

_Caro_

"Yeah?" she mumbled sleepily into her phone. She'd said something indecent telling the caller that it wasn't nice to wake her up at 4 in the morning, but she'd seen the caller ID and immediately known it was important.

When the person at the other end of the line refused to answer she was immediately wide awake. "Hot stuff, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm sorry, baby girl." his voice sounded weak as if he hadn't slept in ages. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay." she assured. "You know you can call me whenever you want."

"I bet that didn't include the middle of the night." he sighed.

"Whenever you want." Penelope repeated and sat up in her bed. "You couldn't sleep."

He smiled sadly and closed his eyes for a moment. "You know me too well, goddess."

"Tell me what's wrong!" she said softly and switched her light on.

"I wish I knew." she could practically hear him ran a hand over his head. "It's just… three weeks and we still got nothing, not a single trace. He has killed four other boys since I got here and there seems to be nothing I can do to make him stop."

"I know." she replied softly. Assuring him that they would eventually get this sleaze didn't help him at the moment and she knew that. "I wasn't able to find any connection between the victims either and as far as I know our friends are stuck with the profile, too. Can be frustrating."

"Yeah." a small smile crossed his lips.

"You're not the only one working on this case, honey. So you're not the one to blame if we can't solve it or if there's another victim."

"I know." there was a long pause before he added. "It's just that… these boys… I know what they felt before…"

"No, Derek!" Penelope harshly interrupted him. "Don't go that way! You're the one who taught me not to identify with the victims so don't start this yourself now! You have to think like the unsub to catch him."

"I know that." he grumbled.

Penelope was silent for a moment before she finally said calmly: "You're keeping something from me."

If only he could tell her about the simple sentence that had thrown him off track. But he knew that she would tell Hotch who would ultimately take him off the case. And Derek couldn't let that happen. He needed to catch this guy! And after all, he wasn't the one who had made all this personal!

"I just needed to hear your voice." he finally sighed. "You're my solace, remember?"

Penelope smiled sadly. She knew him well enough to know when he was lying – and when to let it go. "Okay, sweetness, then put yourself to bed and listen."

"What, you're gonna tell me a bedtime story?" he chuckled.

"Hush, sugar, go to bed now!" she grinned and waited until she'd heard him settle in his bed. "Comfortable?"

"Not really, but it serves the purpose." he grinned into his phone.

"Oh, I'm not sure we're talking about the same purpose here, stud-muffin." she giggled softly.

Of course, she couldn't see the content expression on his face when he closed his eyes to listen to her voice. "I'm all ears, goddess."

"Alright then" she smiled and switched off her light again, "once upon a time there was a knight in shining armor…"

"So, it's a bedtime story after all." he interrupted her.

"Okay, it IS a bedtime story." she sighed. "Now, do you want my sweet voice to talk you into even sweeter dreams or not?!"

"Okay, okay, I'm listening." Derek smiled. This was somehow ridiculous, Penelope telling him a bedtime story over the phone because he couldn't sleep. But he had just called to hear her voice – and he honestly didn't care what she was saying. She WAS his solace, because the sound of her voice was enough to make him feel better, even good enough to fall asleep.

"And don't you interrupt your solace again!" Penelope scolded. "Okay, now, once upon a time there was a knight in shining armor. He was brave and strong and very, VERY handsome. And, of course, there was his beautiful princess with the long blonde hair. She loved her hero very much and whenever he was around she felt absolutely safe. She knew that he would never let anyone do her any harm…"

"You're not talking about us now, are you?" he chuckled. "Even though you're very much exaggerating."

"What did I say about interrupting me?" Penelope said with mocked anger.

"I'm sorry." he couldn't suppress a yawn and snuggled further into his sheets.

"Besides, where is it written that I'm not allowed to enjoy this story myself? Now, will you let me finish it?" she asked a little impatiently.

"Just one question." he mumbled already half asleep.

"What is it?" Penelope replied softly.

His voice sounded as if he was already sleeping: "Is there a happy ending?"

"Of course, lollipop." she whispered. "There's always a happy ending to my stories."

"That's good." his voice was muffled as the phone was no longer in his hand but next to him on the pillow. "I love you, baby girl. Thank you for talking me into sleep." he yawned again and finally fell asleep.

"Anytime, my love, anytime." she smiled and closed her eyes as well.


	3. Worried

**Title: **Worried

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #2 Minutes

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 3/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Can you believe it, I really finished my exam paper. And now I have to wait until June to get the results. I know, it sounds weird, but the German law wants it that way. Anyways, I'm over and done with it since last Wednesday. But did my life get any less hectic? Yeah, you know the answer._

_I was asked to write a newspaper article and a little play. Besides I want to write a song for my mother. Well, not exactly, I take a song and write new lyrics. It's for her birthday.__ Unfortunately, since I finished writing my exam paper I can't seem to write anything at all. But it'll come back, I'm sure it will._

_Thank you for everyone who reviewed my 'older' stories recently or added any of them to their favorites and/or alert list. It means a lot to me, especially when I feel like every__thing else is going wrong. So thank you and please, hang in there with me. I haven't forgotten about any of my stories, it just might take me forever to update._

_And a big thanks to my beta-reader Gretchen who always understands what I want to say __even if I mess it up completely._

_Now I hope you enjoy this chapter and I also hope that you won't have to wait that long for the next update. __Oh, and if you meet my muse, ask her to come back to me, okay?_

The phone rang almost two minutes and Penelope was starting to get even more worried. It was the fifth time that day that she called him – and the fifth time he didn't pick up. She remembered their talk the other night, how distraught he'd sounded. Him not answering his phone right now just fueled her fears.

Sighing she waited for the beep. "Derek, it's me again. Please, call if you get this message, okay. I'm worried about you. Love you."

He'd called her at least five times every day and they hardly talked about work. And he'd sounded even more hopeless each time he called. He identified too much with the victims and Penelope knew that. But she had the feeling that there was something else, something he was keeping from her.

And she knew that he needed her and she needed to be with him and to make sure that he was gonna come out of this unscathed.

It took her not even one minute to find the next best flight to Chicago. He didn't want to talk to her? Well, she wouldn't give him another choice then. It wasn't that she wanted to take control over his life or anything. But from his behavior especially during the past three or four days Penelope could tell that something was terribly wrong with him. He'd called her every night. Apparently, he couldn't sleep anymore unless she talked him into sleep.

Now, all she needed to do was convince Hotch that she absolutely had no other choice than flying to Chicago herself to make sure that Derek was alright and that he could handle this case. Because at the moment everything looked like he couldn't.

Penelope stood up and stormed out of her office and right to Hotch's door. Taking a deep breath she knocked on his door and waited for him to call her in all the while hoping that if she told him that she'd already booked a flight to Chicago it would be easier to convince him to let her go.

"Come in." she heard the stern voice from inside and took another deep breath before entering his office.

"Penelope." she was surprised by the use of her first name but then reminded herself that Hotch was the master of profilers after all. He could most certainly read it all over her face that something was wrong and used the more personal salutation to make her feel more comfortable.

She gave him a small and a little nervous smile in return.

"Have a seat!" Hotch said pointing at the chair on the other side of his desk. He could tell from Penelope's behavior that something was wrong and that she had a request she wasn't sure he would approve. Given the latest events it certainly was about Derek.

"Thank you… Sir." she replied visibly nervous as she claimed the seat and looked down to where her hands were fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. She just wasn't sure how to tell him why she'd come here.

"What can I do for you?" he inquired when Penelope remained silent.

She looked up at him almost in shock and then swallowed before she replied quietly: "It's about Derek."

Hotch leaned forward a bit giving her an encouraging smile to make her go on. He'd figured that much already but wasn't sure yet what exactly it was that she wanted from him.

"Well, you know that he's… taking this case kinda hard." she sighed and looked down again. "I know that maybe… this isn't all that… serious but… well, to be honest I'm worried about him. Last time we talked it sounded like he was taking something about the case personal. I tried to get him to talk to me but he refused so I let it go."

Hotch smiled slightly. It seemed that now that Penelope had finally found the courage to start talking she couldn't stop anymore so she was talking her head off.

"You know, maybe it's nothing and I'm just worrying too much. But I have a feeling that maybe he can't handle this case." she went on. She just needed to get this over with. "I mean, I know that this case is important and you can't just call him back. He probably wouldn't let you anyways. We both know that. But I… I don't know. It's just that I have to make sure…"

"Go!" Hotch softly interrupted her sure she wouldn't be getting to the point anytime soon. He wasn't entirely sure yet that she really wanted to ask him for some time off to fly to Chicago and check on Derek herself. But everything in her behavior and her speech pointed in that direction.

And who knew. Maybe it was better for both of them. After all there was something special between Derek and Penelope, some bonding Derek seemed to have with no one else, not even his family.

Hotch had also noticed that something was wrong about Derek a few weeks after he'd started working this case. He'd tried to address the matter, even tried to convince him to come back. But he hadn't been successful on any of the attempts. Maybe he would open up to Penelope. He had done it before after all.

Penelope blinked at her boss. Had she understood him right? Did that word mean that she had his approval to fly to Chicago and check on Derek?

"As far as I know you still have some personal time coming to you." Hotch added when Penelope didn't say anything in return. "So you can take as much time as you'll need to… get things straightened out."

"Thank you, Sir." Penelope sighed with relief and smiled at him. "I promise to keep you updated and, of course, I can still work on my laptop."

"Of course." he affirmed. "Now go. Your flight will take off soon, I suppose?"

She just nodded and bowed out. Sometimes it was frightening how well Hotch could obviously read her.

When she took a look at her watch she noticed that her talk to Hotch hadn't even taken twenty minutes. And it certainly would have gone a lot faster if she hadn't tried to beat about the bush. So she made a mental note to get straight to the point next time.

But nonetheless she only had another fifty minutes until her flight took off – leaving only twenty minutes for her to shut her babies down and get to the airport. Thank goodness she at least had her ready back in Esther's trunk!

Fortunately, the traffic wasn't all that bad around this time of day so that Penelope even had a few minutes to get herself a frappuccino before checking in. It took only ten minutes for her to get through the security check and another five minutes to find her seat and get comfortable in it. All the while she was absolutely sure about what she was doing.

Until fourteen minutes later they had to fasten their seatbelts and the plane started to roll over the runway. Suddenly doubts sneaked into her mind. What if Derek didn't want to see her, didn't want to talk to her? What if he was mad at her for coming to Chicago uninvited?

Penelope took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It was too late for her worries anyways. And in about one and a half hours she'd have the answers.


	4. Hurting

**Title: **Hurting

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #1 Always

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 4/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

Penelope took a deep breath, then knocked on the door to the address she'd found with a little help from her babies. She was excited – to say the least. What would he say? Would he be glad she came? Or would he be mad at her?

The door opened, and someone frowned at her. "Yes?"

Okay, that was so not Morgan. It was a woman, certainly his mother – if it was even the right house. _Crap!_

"Miss? What can I do for you?" the voice asked a bit impatiently when Penelope didn't answer.

"I… I'm sorry, Ma'am," Penelope finally found her voice again. "I… am looking for Derek… um, Agent Morgan."

"He's… not available," the woman sighed.

Okay, so at least she'd obviously found the right house. It was Penelope's turn to frown when she heard a noise coming from inside the house, and a voice that sounded incredibly similar to Derek's swearing.

"Can you tell me where I can find him?" she asked, trying to be patient.

"I'm sorry, but he doesn't want to see anyone," the woman replied and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Penelope sighed. She hadn't come here to be dismissed before she'd even seen him. And she definitely wasn't going to give up that easily. "Look, I'm sorry if this is the wrong moment, but I flew all the way over here because I really need to talk to him. So would you mind…"

Fran Morgan's face became stern, making her look like she was ready to kill someone. "Listen, young lady, my son is in very bad shape. I don't care if he broke your heart and left you high and dry. The last thing he needs is some ex-girlfriend getting to him."

_Ex-girlfriend?! _Penelope's eyes widened. Did Fran Morgan actually think that Derek would date someone like her? "Mrs. Morgan… Ma'am…" she stuttered. "I'm sorry, really, I didn't mean to… I'm not… Derek's… I'm one of his co-workers and…"

"No!" Fran harshly interrupted her, making Penelope jump slightly. "If this is work-related again, I'm gonna take disciplinary action against you. I told you he's in bad shape, so why can't you leave him alone for a single day?!"

Penelope took a deep breath. If Derek's mother was this upset, it had to be even worse than Penelope had feared. She anxiously shifted from one foot to the other. "Ma'am, I'm also Derek's friend, and I assure you, this visit was never supposed to be work-related. I was just worried about him, because he hasn't called and… How bad is he?"

Mrs. Morgan sighed again and let her head sink. "No, I'm sorry." she replied, her voice much softer now. "You must be Penelope."

Okay now, that was really strange. How did she know that? Slowly, Penelope nodded.

"How do I know? Well, Derek has told me a lot about you, and I know he's been calling you almost every night." Fran smiled at the stunned look on Penelope's face. "Why don't you come in now, please?" she suggested and stepped aside.

"So… it's bad," Penelope tried again as she accepted Fran's invitation and stepped inside the house.

Fran nodded sadly. "He's… I don't know, I've never seen him like this before. Something must have happened, probably connected with the case he's working on. But he doesn't talk to me."

"Ma'am, can I try and talk to him, please?" Penelope asked softly, hoping she could keep the impatience out of her voice. She was feeling more and more worried every second that went by. "I know you're his mother, and if he doesn't talk to you, he certainly won't talk to me. But I can't leave without at least having tried."

"I'm really not sure I should let you…" She was interrupted by a loud sound coming from the second floor.

"He's tearing up his room, huh?" Penelope asked, giving Derek's mother a knowing look. "I really think you should let me see him. I… I don't know, maybe he'll talk to me."

Another sound from upstairs, as if he'd just knocked over a wardrobe, made Fran jump. She closed her eyes for a moment, weighing her options, and then sighed. "Alright."

_Finally!_ Penelope sighed with relief. Carefully, she followed the older woman up the stairs, past a small bathroom, towards the second room on the right. When she looked inside, she saw complete chaos, knocked over cabinets, and chairs lying all over the floor.

"Wow," Penelope commented as she took in the scene in front of her. "You know you're gonna have to clean that up, right?"

Derek stopped at the sound of her voice, and slowly turned to stare at her. For a second, which seemed to Penelope to last an hour, he didn't say a word, didn't move, didn't even seem to breathe.

Feeling a lump in her throat, Penelope swallowed hard and tried to give him a smile. He was mad at her. He hadn't wanted her to come here, and he didn't seem the least bit glad to see her. Well, she was here nonetheless, and she needed to try and make the best of the situation. "Hey, handsome," she greeted happily. "Did you miss me?"

It happened so fast that Penelope's breath hitched. In an instant, Derek had crossed the distance between them and pulled her into such a tight embrace that he was almost crushing her. He buried his face in her hair as he took one deep breath after the other and… was he actually shaking?!

"It's okay, baby," Penelope whispered into his ear. "It's all gonna be okay."

Derek couldn't believe she'd done that, for him. She'd flown all the way to Chicago, just to be here with him. Had she known how much he needed her? Of course she had. She always knew when he needed her the most.

Besides, he must have sounded pretty desperate the last time he'd called her; and then he had stopped calling her at all. She didn't need to be a profiler to figure out that something was seriously wrong with him.

"Come on, let's sit down," Penelope said softly, leading him to the bed.

All the while walking and sitting down with her Derek kept holding his Baby Girl's hands. He refused to let go of her, and when they were settled, he pulled her close to him again. He just needed to feel her, smell her. He couldn't get close enough.

Derek wondered if she had any idea how good it felt to hold her; how intoxicating her smell was to him, and how good the hands gently stroking his back felt. All he wanted at that moment was to touch her, be touched by her. To just feel her.

He'd never felt anything like this before. This was so much more than the mere physical attraction he used to feel for the women in his life. His whole body was aching with a need Derek hadn't known he was capable of feeling.

Maybe it would have been better had she not come here. Not that he'd never thought about her this way. But he'd always known this, between them, was out of the question. She'd never do this normally. However, she would do it for him now, and he was sure of that.

"Now tell me!" Penelope commanded softly. She placed her hands on both sides of his face and made him look in her eyes. "Tell me what you've been keeping from all of us!"

Sighing, Derek leaned his forehead against hers and hesitated for a few seconds. He noticed his mother closing the door to his room behind her. Only then did he reach into the bedside table drawer and pull out a note, neatly wrapped in an evidence bag.

"He left this with one of the bodies," he said as he handed the note to Penelope.

She read the line and closed her eyes for a moment. _Remember what it's like?_

"They started to ask questions when they found the message and I… I had to tell them." Derek ran a hand over his face. "Now they want me to talk to Buford, because they think he might know something."

Penelope opened her mouth to tell him that he didn't have to do it. But she knew differently.

"I do remember," Derek whispered. "I remember every time we're dealing with a case like this. But this time it's different. I… The feeling's much stronger this time, and I just… no matter how hard I try, I can't wash it off, you know? Nothing helps. And I… I feel like I'm losing it. I know I shouldn't identify with the victims, but… I am a victim."

"No, you're not!" Penelope harshly objected. "You survived, Derek!"

"But I know what they felt when…" he bit his lip. He simply couldn't say the words. "I will never forget what he did to me, and sometimes – almost always – I can still feel him."

Penelope nodded and wrapped her arms back around him. "Let me try and take care of you."

"I love you, Baby Girl," he mumbled into her hair as he snuggled up to her as much as humanly possible, "and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're here. But I fear even you can't make it better this time."

But she had to! She hadn't come here just to watch him suffer, and not be able to do anything about it!

Closing her eyes to keep the tears that were forming in them from running down her cheeks, Penelope tried to think of a possibility to help Derek. _I can't wash it off._ His words echoed in her head, and suddenly she had an idea. It was crazy, absolutely crazy. But maybe it was a way to help him – and she'd do anything for him. She'd sworn to herself that she'd always be there for Derek, as he was always there for her.

"Come on!" she softly commanded. She pulled him to his feet, then to the bathroom. She took a deep breath and turned her back on him. "Get in the shower!"


	5. Healing

**Title: **Healing

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #5 Never

**Rating:** T, very much ;)

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 5/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Happy Belated Mother's Day and a Happy Father's Day to all the parents out there. I'm glad I have mine, even if we don't always get along. :) They are my support much as Penelope is Derek's._

_But I didn't start this to rant about myself. I received many very encouraging reviews/comments not only on this story, I hope I replied to all of them. They are what gets me through the times my muse leaves me or I'm just not in the mood to write. So, thank you, all of you! Now, enjoy. I'm fairly certain you will. ;)_

Derek's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Had he understood her right? She wanted him to get in the shower? What was the point of that? And more importantly, why hadn't she just told him to go? She didn't plan on… Derek felt a lump forming in his throat, and his heart started to beat faster.

When Derek didn't react, just continued to stare at her, Penelope turned to him and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Get in the shower," she repeated.

He opened his mouth to object, but reconsidered it. He had to admit that he wanted to do whatever Penelope had in mind. He'd already tried everything that usually made him feel better; drinking, women, more drinking. But her touch was the only thing that really helped.

Penelope heard the rustling of clothes, and then the shower curtain being pushed aside. Taking a deep breath, she started to unbutton her blouse. This was absolutely crazy. She and Derek were far from close enough for this.

But all she could think of was Derek saying that he couldn't wash this feeling off, and how desperate he had sounded. Penelope would do anything to make it better. So she took another deep breath and followed him into the shower.

Carefully, Penelope closed the curtain behind her. For a moment, she didn't dare turn around and look at Derek. How long had she dreamed of seeing his perfect body without all those annoying clothes keeping her view away from his delicious skin? She'd never thought she would get this chance, ever.

However, Penelope was anxious, nervous, afraid even. She was afraid Derek would reject her. Mostly, she was afraid of the expression on his face when he saw her. Taking another deep breath, Penelope finally found the heart to turn around. Derek had turned his back towards her, for which she was grateful, but, dear Lord, was this man beautiful!

Her hands were shaking as she reached for the sponge, but then she reconsidered it. She might never get a chance to touch him again; she simply couldn't let it pass.

"Let me help you wash this off," she whispered and waited for Derek to nod before she started with his shoulders.

This had to be the most awkward situation she'd ever been in. They were certainly closer than Penelope had ever been to any man, and they both trusted each other more than they trusted anyone else in the world. This was different, though. No matter how much they loved each other, they were far from being anything like an item. Being close to him like this was simply awkward, and Derek must have felt the same. Penelope could feel his whole body tense as she started to touch him.

When Derek heard the shower curtain being pushed aside, his first intention was to turn around. He wanted to hold Penelope close to him, smell her, taste her, feel her as close as humanly possible, and he wanted to finally see her, after all these years of merely dreaming.

But he knew about her insecurities, and he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. This situation was awkward enough. Why would she do this, anyway? It's not like they had crossed any line that had defined them as more than just friends. Both of them sharing a shower just seemed… inappropriate.

Derek's body tensed when he felt her soft hands brushing over his shoulder. Not because he didn't want her to touch him, but because he wanted it too much. Her hands felt better than he'd ever imagined. This feeling of dirt and disgust that had, for days now, had ahold of him, gave way to the pleasant tingle her hands left wherever they came into contact with his skin. It didn't take long for Derek to relax under Penelope's touch.

How could he have doubted that she'd be able to help him, that she was the cure to all his ills? She was his God-given solace. Nothing had helped until now, but her touch made all those feelings vanish; and Derek wanted more, much more, of it. The urge to turn around and finally be able to touch her as well became almost overwhelming.

Penelope was relieved when she finally felt Derek relax, because it meant he wasn't entirely uncomfortable anymore. She let her hands run further down his body, cherishing every moment. She almost felt sorry when she was finished.

"Better?" she whispered.

Derek nodded. Yeah, he felt better, much better. But he didn't want her to stop. He wanted to turn around, pull her close to him, and let his need take control.

"Turn around." It was somewhere between a question and a command.

Derek closed his eyes and obeyed willingly. Only a second later, he felt Penelope's hands wandering over his chest, touching every muscle, every spot, and he could hardly repress a moan. He tried to think of something else to keep his control, but it was pointless.

When her hands moved over his stomach, Derek couldn't quite stop his body from reacting to her touch. He wasn't sure if he should be embarrassed, or just abandon himself to the indescribable things her touch made him feel.

Penelope divested him of having to make that decision. Only a second later, Derek saw little stars explode behind his eyes. Penelope was making one of his wildest dreams come true.

The world around him stopped revolving, and suddenly, there was only Derek and his Goddess. Derek had always quite vividly remembered what it had been like to be touched by Buford, but he knew that after tonight, all he would remember was what it was like to be touched by Penelope.

When Penelope realized Derek was not at all uncomfortable at the moment, she was shocked, and then flattered. It made her feel proud that she had such an effect on him, and she simply couldn't resist. If her touch had this effect on him, why not taking the chance? She wanted to taste him, even if it was just this one time – and he tasted better than she'd ever imagined.

"Baby…" was all he could whisper before she sent him to heaven.

It took him a while to come back to earth. When Derek opened his eyes, he saw that Penelope was about to leave. What did that mean? How could she just disappear after what they'd just done?

Penelope couldn't believe she had really done that. Not that she regretted it, but… it was simply wrong. Derek didn't feel that way about her; he was just vulnerable and needed someone – and she had shamelessly taken advantage of him. Considering the way she had touched him, it was no wonder he'd been aroused. She needed to get out of the shower before things got even more embarrassing.

"Where do you think you're going?" She heard his voice behind her, still a little out of breath.

"Derek, I…" she tried.

"Turn around!" he commanded. She had seen him, touched him, tasted him – and he finally wanted to take his chance with her.

Slowly, Penelope turned around. It took all her self-discipline not to shake too vigorously. But she didn't dare looking at him. She just couldn't stand the look in his eyes.

"Come back to me," Derek whispered, reaching out for her. "I want to return the favor."

Penelope stared at him in shock, but she didn't get a chance to object. Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her body close to his. She couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her body. Her blood was whooshing in her ears, and she thought she was about to faint.

Derek gently made her lean against the wall and started to run his hands over her body just as she'd done before. His heart skipped a beat when he heard her moan and felt her writhe under his touch.

This wasn't happening. It simply couldn't be. Everything seemed surreal to Penelope. She'd dreamed about this moment for years, always knowing it would never happen; and now it was. Derek Morgan was pleasing her, and the man so knew what he was doing. This was better than any dream about him she'd ever had, and to keep herself from screaming his name, she had to bite her lip so hard it started to bleed.

Smiling, Derek stood back up and pulled the still-shaking Penelope into his arms. He lifted her head and gently kissed her lips. His heart stopped beating for a moment at the feeling of her soft lips against his. It was odd that this was their first kiss, considering what they'd just done. But nonetheless, it was perfect.

Penelope sighed happily and melted into the kiss. It was soft and full of love and simply perfect; and it soon became more passionate.

"I need you," Derek panted as he leaned down to nibble her neck. "I want you so badly."

He turned off the water and pulled her with him, but Penelope resisted. After all, this was his mother's house, and she was certainly not yet asleep. The last thing Penelope wanted was to meet Derek's mother in the corridor, wearing nothing but a necklace.

"My mom's downstairs." Derek smirked and pulled Penelope back against him. "She won't see us."

"I don't know…" Besides, leaving their clothes here would have caused more problems.

Grinning, Derek grabbed both piles of clothes and took Penelope's hand again. "Come on, now! I want you in my bed."

Before Penelope could argue anymore, Derek had thrust their clothes into her hand, lifted her up, and was carrying her back to his room. Gently, he laid her down on his bed and took in the sight of her. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, crawling up next to her.

Penelope still couldn't believe this was really happening, but it was absolutely perfect. Derek was the perfect gentleman, and his talent exceeded all her expectations. She had never felt the things he was making her feel.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, his voice filled with love and a hint of concern.

"I've never been better," Penelope replied honestly, looking up at Derek.

He smiled and studied her eyes for a moment before he leaned in to kiss her. "Same here," he said thankfully. "I… still can't believe you did all that for me."

"Well, it's not like I offered a big sacrifice." She smiled and laid her head back onto his chest. His heartbeat was still a little fast, and the memory of what had caused that made a shiver run down her spine. "I… I never thought it could be like that."

"Me neither," he replied honestly, wrapping his arms closer around her.

That thought filled Derek with pride and regret at the same time. She was a goddess, and this was the treatment she deserved. A man who didn't know how to touch her the right way and make her feel like a goddess simply didn't deserve her.

Suddenly, Derek felt a mixture of anger and jealousy towards the former men in Penelope's life. He wanted to be the one and only man in her life. No other man deserved her. Maybe he didn't either, but she had chosen him. Tonight, she had made him hers – and he wanted things to stay that way.

For a moment, they just enjoyed the feeling of being in each other's arms. Then Derek's voice broke the silence. "I love you, Penelope, more than I ever loved any woman. I never thought I could feel this way, and I… No one was ever capable of doing what you did for me tonight. Buford's finally gone. I can't feel his touch anymore, only yours. And I know that I could never spend my nights with any other woman again. I love you."

When she didn't answer, Derek looked down at her and realized she was peacefully asleep in his arms. Smiling, he wrapped his arms closer around her and closed his eyes, knowing that tonight, for the first time in months, there would be no nightmare to haunt him.


	6. Dawn

**Title: **Dawn

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #10 author's choice: Moments

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 6/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Yes, I've finished more than half of this challenge. I know, I shouldn't have started six stories at a time, because I can't update quite as often as you want me to. ;) On the other hand, whenever I'm stuck with a story, I can at least update another one – and I'm stuck with two stories right now. :/ So, I hope you'll forgive me if I don't update some of the stories for a while. I want to get the next chapters right, but at the moment, I can't. :'(_

_I could rant about my crazy stupid life now, but I won't. I might write a story about an UNSUB who went crazy because of a similar situation, though. :D_

_Now, enjoy!_

Derek was woken up by a movement next to him. It took him a few moments to recall the events of the past evening. Smiling, he opened his eyes to see the starry sky outside his window. It must have been in the middle of the night, so Penelope had certainly just turned in her sleep.

He turned as well to wrap his arms back around his favorite girl, but he froze in the middle of the movement. Penelope was sitting at the edge of the bed, her back turned to Derek, and was just buttoning up her blouse.

"You're not sneaking away from me, are you?" he asked softly.

Penelope froze at the sound of his voice. Derek could see her body tense. Then she sighed, and let her shoulders sink.

"Derek…" she started, but didn't seem quite sure what she wanted to say.

He braced himself on his forearm and reached out to stroke her back. "Baby, why do you want to leave?"

She shrugged, and hesitated for a long moment, before she whispered, "I didn't plan on this."

He gently let his hand run up and down her back. "First, why don't you come back to bed. It's cold without you."

"I can't," she whispered. "I understand you needed me last night, but I can't do this."

Derek sat up behind her, and gently put a strand of red hair behind her ear. "Do you… regret it?" he carefully questioned.

Penelope could hear the sadness in his voice. "No. No, I don't," she assured him.

Derek frowned. "What did last night mean to you?"

Penelope swallowed hard and looked down. "Everything," she whispered.

"What do you think it meant to me?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but from the slight shaking of her back, Derek could tell she was crying.

"You think this was just a one night stand for me, don't you?" he softly asked. He couldn't even blame her for that.

"You don't have relationships," she simply said.

"It's true, I've never really managed to keep up a relationship with any girl," he admitted. "I've never really tried. I was… I don't know, maybe I was looking for something I couldn't find in any of them."

Penelope now turned her head to look at him. "Why would it be different with me?"

"Because everything is different with you," he replied honestly, and reached out to cup her cheek with his hand. "Last night was… simply amazing. I love you, more than anything else in the world. I've never felt anything like this before.

"I've… never admitted this to anyone, but… no matter what I tried, I never entirely got rid of that feeling." He searched her eyes with his so Penelope could see he was telling the truth. "I've always felt him, but since last night, all I feel is you. Your touch. I don't want to be touched by anyone else ever again."

She reached out to cup his cheek with her hand, and watched as Derek closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into the touch. She opened her mouth to say something, but Derek stopped her. He wasn't done yet.

"My whole life I thought that God never answered any of my prayers," Derek went on. "He didn't make me forget, He didn't take these feelings away. I thought He had abandoned me, but last night, I realized that He answered me, just not the way I expected Him to. He sent me an angel to help me cope."

Penelope looked at him for a few moments, his words slowly sinking in. "Wait… me?" she exclaimed. "Oh, no. Honey, I might be many things, but I'm so not an angel."

"You are," Derek insisted. "A pretty naughty one, I admit." He smiled when she blushed a nice shade of red. "You're MY angel, my God-given solace. You healed me, Baby Girl."

Smiling sadly, Penelope looked down, not sure how to answer. Oh, how she wanted this to be real, but she knew how vulnerable and broken Derek was at the moment. Would he still feel the same when this case was over?

Derek put a finger under her chin and made her look up at him again. Studying her eyes for a moment, he added, "I'm not gonna change my mind about us once this case is over. I want you, forever."

She blushed slightly, and mumbled, "I hate profilers, you know that?"

"Yeah, and this profiler can tell that there's something else bothering you," Derek replied.

Penelope hesitated for a moment, but from the look on Derek's face, she could tell he wasn't letting this go. "What… what are people gonna say?" she whispered. Not that she cared much what they said about her, but Derek certainly had a reputation to maintain. He couldn't present a girlfriend like her to anyone. "Your mom, the team… What are they gonna think about this… us?"

Derek shook his head in obvious amusement. His hand came to rest at her neck, massaging it gently. He knew she didn't care about what people said or thought about herself, so her worry was for him. "I don't care."

"You… you don't?" Penelope stuttered, giving him an irritated look.

"No, not at all," Derek affirmed, and as if to prove his words, he leaned forward to kiss her deeply.

When Derek pulled back, Penelope let her eyes close for a moment, and licked her lips. Then she smiled mischievously. "Does that mean I'm allowed to call JJ and tell her everything about last night?"

"If you don't leave out the part where you screamed my name." Derek waggled his eyebrows at her.

Laughing, Penelope wiped the tears off her face.

"I don't want to keep our relationship a secret," he assured her, "and I'm gonna shout it from the rooftop of the FBI building, if that helps you believe me."

"I don't think you're allowed to go up there," she sniffled.

"Then I'm gonna shout it from every other rooftop in the city," he shrugged, making Penelope giggle. "Now, come back to bed, Sweetness!"

"That's all you want from me, right?" she mock-pouted.

Derek smirked at her and pushed the blanket back a little. "Do you mind?"

"No," Penelope grinned and crawled back under the blanket, where Derek immediately pulled her into his arms. Sighing contentedly, she wrapped her arm around his waist and lay her head on his chest.

Derek placed a kiss on the top of her head and smiled brightly. "You know, I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"Me, neither," Penelope whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Goddess." Derek let his hand run up and down Penelope's back, both of them enjoying the warmth of their embrace. Only the blouse she was wearing made their cuddling much less enjoyable; it kept him from touching her wonderful, soft skin. A discontent growl escaped his throat.

Frowning, Penelope raised her head to look at him. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really," he sighed. "It's just… You're way too overdressed."

She slapped his chest and looked down so Derek couldn't see her blush. "Don't you think we should get some sleep?"

In the blink of an eye, Derek had turned Penelope around so she was lying on her back, and started to unbutton her blouse, revealing deliciously soft skin. "I don't feel like sleeping," he mumbled, and leaned down to nibble her skin.

"Me, neither," Penelope panted. It was almost scary how Derek could make her go crazy with only one kiss. One touch. She'd never wanted anyone so badly.

"You're so beautiful," Derek mumbled against her skin. He still couldn't believe she had chosen him. "So sexy."

For the first time, Penelope really believed these words. With Derek, everything was different, in the best of all ways.

It was already close to dawn outside when they fell asleep. Neither of them heard the alarm clock that went off around six.

When Derek woke up, the sweet scent of vanilla and strawberries filled his nose, and he felt Penelope's warm body snuggled up close against him. He knew this was the way he wanted to wake up for the rest of his life.

He wrapped his arms closer around his goddess and inhaled deeply.

"Hmmm, good morning," she mumbled against his skin.

"Morning, Princess," Derek replied, and kissed the top of her hair.

"We need to get up, don't we?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I'm afraid so," Derek smiled, "even though I'd much rather spend the rest of the day here with you."

"No milk today, honey. You completely wore me out last night." Penelope playfully punched him in the side, and then got up to gather her clothes.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched her pick up her clothes from the floor of his room. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Penelope turned around and winked at him, "You're you. That's good enough for me."

Derek blinked at her for a second. He hadn't realized he'd said the words out loud. Then he smirked, "Just because you bring out the best in me, Baby Girl." He quickly got out of bed and pulled Penelope into a deep kiss.

"Easy, stud," she panted, "we need to show up for work."

Suddenly, his body tensed.

All her internal alarms went off immediately. "What's wrong?"

For a short moment, Derek didn't want to answer, but last night, he had decided not to keep anything from her anymore. "I need to talk to Buford," he mumbled.

"No, you're not talking to him," she objected.

"Baby, I have to…" Derek started, but was interrupted by Penelope's finger covering his mouth.

"You're not going to," she insisted. "I am."

Derek sighed. He couldn't ask that of her. Besides, Buford had insisted on talking to Derek. "I doubt he'll talk to you."

"I will make him talk, trust me." Penelope was determined, and it was pointless to argue with her, Derek knew that. "I'm gonna need access to the computers of the local PD, though."

"I don't think that'll pose a problem," Derek replied.

"Well then, let's get on with it!" Penelope smiled, pecked his lips, and then headed for the bathroom.

When Derek went to leave his room, his eyes fell on a crucifix his mother had once placed in his room. He really hadn't done anything to deserve Penelope. "Thank you," he whispered.

He'd considered following Penelope, but he knew that if he did, they were never going to make it to work. It was almost ridiculous how he couldn't seem to take his hands off of her. He felt like a teenager in love for the first time.

Fran was standing in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and she shrieked a little when Derek grabbed her and pressed a kiss against her cheek.

"Good morning, Ma!" He grinned at her, and looked over her shoulder at the pancakes she was preparing. "Smells delicious."

"Good morning," Fran replied, the surprise obvious in her voice. When she'd last seen her son, he'd been damaging his room, and now he seemed extraordinarily happy – and his mood seemed to get better when the door opened and Penelope stepped in.

The two of them flirted without restraint during breakfast, and Fran couldn't help but smile. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her son laugh that much.

"This was absolutely perfect," Derek smiled at his mom when he finished breakfast, patting his stomach. He grinned at Penelope, adding, "I only know very few things that taste better than your pancakes."

"Aren't we gonna be late for work?" Penelope stood up to clear the table, desperately trying not to blush at his remark.

"Slave driver!" Derek sighed and shuffled out of the kitchen. Chuckling, Penelope placed their plates in the dishwasher.

For a moment, it was silent in Fran's kitchen, which slowly became heavy. Penelope started to feel uncomfortable.

"So, you and Derek are more than just friends now, I suppose." Fran smiled at her.

Penelope gave her a puzzled look.

"I know, it's none of my business," Fran tried to apologize. She'd just wanted to break the silence. "I mean, I don't know what you did last night. I just thought…"

Penelope swallowed, not sure she liked where this conversation was going.

"This came out wrong," Fran mumbled and bit her lip. "I just wanted to say thank you. This case was hard for Derek, and it was hard for me to see him like this and not being able to help him. There was nothing I could do for him, and it was getting worse each day.

"I didn't know how to help him; he wouldn't have let me anyway. There just seemed no way for me to get through to him, but you could. I really thought I had lost my son this time, but you brought him back. Thank you!"

Penelope blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes. "I love Derek," she whispered.

"I know," Fran smiled, "and he loves you."

"Hey, Baby Cakes, where are you?" Derek grinned as he stepped back into the kitchen.

Penelope quickly wiped her face.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, alarmed by her watery eyes, and looked back and forth between his mother and Penelope, clearly puzzled.

"Everything is perfect," Penelope assured him, giving him a soft kiss. "We can go."


	7. Interrogation

**Title: **Interrogation

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #7 Hours

**Rating:** T, basically for content

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 7/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _I'm getting better, aren't I? :) I wanted to thank everyone who recently reviewed my stories or put them on the alert/favorites list. It's amazing that I still get reviews for stories I have written more than a year ago. It's a great compliment that people seem to like what I'm writing and even take their time to tell me. :)_

_At the moment, my life isn't that crazy anymore. However, I am stuck with some of the stories. :/ But I'm working on them anyway._

_Also, a special thanks to my beta-reader Jenny for her great suggestions and for making it look like I actually learned something during my English studies. LOL_

_Now, enjoy this chapter. Only three more to go. ;)__ And once again thank you for keeping writing so much fun for me!_

_Caro_

"So, you really want to talk to him, huh?" the detective asked derogatorily.

"Is something wrong about that?" Penelope asked, trying to sound polite.

The man snorted. "Well, he didn't talk to one of us; why would he talk to you?"

"Maybe you just didn't ask the right questions," she shrugged.

"And you think you can do our job better than we can," he mumbled.

Derek drew in a sharp breath. This so wasn't going to end well.

Fortunately, Penelope wasn't in the mood to argue with the deputy. She'd planned on letting Buford enjoy the whole force that was Penelope Garcia. So she just smiled sweetly at the small, stubby man. "Watch and learn!"

"You know you don't have to do this," Derek whispered, just before Penelope entered the interrogation room.

"I know, hon," she smiled at him. "And you know there's no way I'm gonna let _you_ talk to him."

"I know," he nodded. "I love you."

Her heart skipped a beat at his words. He obviously didn't plan on keeping their newly-developed relationship a secret. For a moment, she asked herself if he was really going to shout it from the rooftops.

"I love you, too," she whispered, and softly pecked his lips. Then she entered the room, ready to kick Buford's butt.

"Where is Derek?" Buford wanted to know as two guards let him into the room.

"He's not coming," was Penelope's simple reply. "You'll have to settle for me."

"I will only talk to Derek," he stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Fine," Penelope shrugged, "then I'll do the talking." She opened the file she had brought with her, and placed the pictures of three older men in front of Buford on the table. She waited for him to look at the pictures before asking, "Do these men look familiar?"

Buford just swallowed.

"I'll take that as a yes." A somewhat triumphant smile crossed her lips. "They're all prisoners here, so I'm guessing you've probably met them before. I bet you don't know why they are here, though, do you? They've all been sentenced for murder, much like yourself, only they each killed the man who molested their son."

Buford swallowed again.

"You know, I like this man best." Penelope pointed at the picture in the middle. "Robert Baxter. When he found out his neighbor had molested his son, Baxter cut off the guy's genitals and waited for him to bleed to death."

There was a long pause. From his behavior, she could tell Buford was starting to get nervous. He was fidgeting with the sleeves of the prisoner uniform he wore. She almost had him.

"He's in solitary confinement right now, because he attacked a fellow prisoner. Guess what the other man was sentenced for?" She paused again before continuing. "Molesting a child." She gave Buford another moment to let her words sink in.

"Now, imagine what will happen when one of these three men, maybe even Baxter, receives an email, let's say by you, where you rant about what you used to do to thirteen-year-old boys, and how much you miss doing it. What do you think Baxter would do the next time you both cross paths?"

"You can't do this," he snorted.

"What, you think I can't hack your email account and read or write emails in your name?" She smirked at him, clearly showing him how ridiculous this thought was. "I can, because that's what I do for a living. See, I'm an FBI Technical Analyst. Your account wasn't even a challenge. 'Youth center' isn't the most creative password for someone like you."

Buford's eyes widened.

Penelope leaned forward, clasping her hands on the table. "All right, now that we've laid it on the line, here's the deal. You tell me everything you know about this case, and I might reconsider sending the email."

"I… I don't believe you," he stuttered. "I… want to talk to Derek!"

"Well, that's a pity," Penelope sighed, standing up. She started to gather the pictures. "The locals think you have some important information about the case they're working. To be honest, I don't think you know anything."

She shrugged as she turned towards the door, and said over her shoulder, "Unfortunately, you're not going to live long enough anymore for us to find out who's right."

"You… You won't find him if I'm dead," he tried.

Penelope slowly turned around and gave him a pitiful look. "We've caught dozens of guys like him, and we're going to catch him, too. We have your emails, and one of our best and fastest graphologists and cryptographers is working on them right now. Since you don't write letters, you two certainly communicate via email – if you communicate at all, and you didn't just use this case to try and get in contact with Derek.

"I'm gonna track all the addresses for anyone who has ever received an email from your account, and I'll look for encrypted messages in the signatures – and before you ask, yes, I _can_ do this. Trust me, we'll find him with or without you. Have a nice life, Mr. Buford." Again, Penelope turned to leave.

"Wait!" Buford called after her. "Please!"

She turned her head slightly towards the mirror and winked. _Gotcha!_

Slowly, Penelope turned back towards Buford and tried to give him a bored look. "Yes?"

"Okay, it's… it's true, I communicate with him," he told her.

Penelope sat back down at the table. "I'm listening."

"He wrote me some fan emails," he went on. "At first, I didn't think anything of it. I get a lot of stuff like this, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." It wasn't even a lie. She'd sorted through tons of emails appreciating what Buford did. This was one of the hardest parts of this job. Penelope would never understand why creeps like Buford got almost more groupies than David Archuleta.

"Right, so… he started to ask questions. He… He invented the encryption. You know, I'm not allowed to talk about details." Penelope sighed. When she'd wanted to make him talk, she hadn't imagined him telling her _everything_. Hopefully, he would get to the important parts quickly.

"The code is rather simple." He pointed at the paper, and Penelope handed it over to him. He wrote down a few words, and then handed the sheet back to Penelope.

Frowning, she looked at the email address he'd written down.

"The numbers tell you which words are important. When you put them together, you get the message. That's the way we communicate," he told her. "I told him how I chose the boys, how I approached them, and… well, he wanted to know everything. At first, I really thought he was just another fan."

"And when he started to abduct and kill little boys, you thought it was your chance to talk to Derek again." It took all of Penelope's self-discipline to not clench her fists in front of him.

Buford nodded. "You have to understand. I… I love him."

"No, _you_ have to understand something, Mr. Buford," Penelope mumbled, leaning closer again. "I told you what I can do. It won't help if you change your password or open a new account. I can hack any account with any password, and send this email I told you about, and it wouldn't even burden my conscience. So here's what I ask of you. You will leave Derek alone, once and for all. This is over, and you lost."

He thought about it for a moment.

"I'll count to three. If you can't promise me to leave him alone, I can't promise not to send the email." She leaned back again. "One."

"Okay, I promise," he quickly said.

Penelope stood up and turned to leave.

"You… You won't send this email, right?" Buford asked.

Penelope turned back to him, and an almost devious smile appeared on her lips. She leaned over the table again and whispered, "Always watch your back, Mr. Buford!"

Then she left him alone.

Outside the door, Penelope took a deep breath. A moment later, she felt two strong arms being wrapped around her.

"I'm so proud of you, Baby Girl," he whispered. "You did great in there."

"It was easy," she replied, and turned her head to look at him. "I really hate him."

Nodding, he kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms closer around her.

"Now, we only have to track this guy down and hope he doesn't know more about computers than Buford does," Penelope sighed.

"I'm sure you'll find him," Derek said confidently. "You definitely are my Goddess of all brilliance and beauty."

Penelope grinned at him. "And suddenly, my day is so much brighter."


	8. Heroes

**Title: **Heroes

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #3 Days

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 8/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Once again thank you, all of you! For always hanging in there with me, for not complaining when my life is so crazy I just can't post anything for weeks, for all your support, and, of course, for all the wonderful reviews I received, and for putting my stories on your favorite- and/or alert-lists._

_Also, I big thanks to my wonderful beta-reader! She's always faster with beta-reading than I'll ever be with writing. ;)_

_Now, this chapter is a little more focused on the case that led Derek back to Chicago. It's a tough case for him, and it's not over, yet. So I figured it deserved some more attention than just a side note. There will be more MG interaction in the next chapter, though. Promised._

_Now, enjoy!_

After Penelope had found out the email address, they had studied all the messages Buford and the UNSUB had exchanged. Unfortunately, the UNSUB turned out to be pretty good with computers as well. It was hard to track him down from only his email address.

Unfortunately, before Penelope was able to track him down, he had abducted another child. They were running out of time, and the operation was more risky, knowing that the UNSUB had a potential hostage with him.

"Come on, give me something I can work with!" Penelope begged her computer. They needed a miracle if they wanted to save the child. It had been three days since the boy had been abducted – meaning, there weren't more than two days left for them to find him.

She almost jumped, when the door to her temporary office opened and Derek stepped in.

"Sorry, I… I didn't want to scare you." With a soft peck on her cheek, he placed a cup of frappuccino in front of her.

"Aw, thank you," she sighed. "You just saved my day, my hero."

"How's it going?" he carefully asked.

Penelope sighed and tiredly wiped her eyes. "Bad, to say the least. This boy is dying because of me, and I just can't seem to find a single clue."

"That's not true." Derek spun her chair around so that she was facing him. "You're the best. You can track someone down who threw garbage into your can."

"Yeah, but that would be easy, because I would at least know what he'd been eating or drinking or using for whatever." Penelope sighed again. "But this guy… I need more than just his email address. I… I need something to work with."

"What about the password he used?" Derek wanted to know.

"It's toy store." Penelope sighed again. "But we already knew that was where he abducted the boys from. It's not helpful. I already tried the list of employees of the shop, but there's only one employee, and she's a 46-year-old woman, no husband, no kids, no pets, no nothing. Whatever I come up with is just another dead end."

"But didn't he have to leave his name and address when he signed up for the email account?"

"Yeah, but that was a fake ID. It's another dead end. I'm sorry." Penelope's shoulders sank a little. "I tried to track down his IP address, but it led me somewhere to North-East-Asia, Mid-Africa, and Eastern Europe. This boy will die in two days, and there's nothing I can do to save him. Whenever I thought I'd tracked the UNSUB down, I ended up empty-handed. He's… just too good."

"No one's too good for you, you know that." Derek smiled at her.

"I'm afraid he is." Penelope turned back to her computer. "I'm running out of ideas on how to catch this guy."

"That fits into the profile," Derek mumbled. "He approaches the boys in public and manages to escape with them unnoticed. He's pretty smart, and he's confident enough to abduct children from crowded places."

"And he's definitely computer literate," Penelope sighed. "Add that to the profile."

"Don't worry, we'll find him." Derek pressed a kiss on her soft hair, inhaling the sweet scent deeply. "I'll accompany Detective Johnson on patrol, see if we can find someone near the mall who acts bizarrely. I love you, Baby Girl."

"I love you, too." She smiled up at him, but couldn't keep herself from wondering if he would still love her when she didn't track the UNSUB down in time. Sighing, she turned back to her computers.

"Any lead?" Johnson asked as Derek left the room.

"None so far." Derek sighed. "Obviously, this guy knows a lot about how to cover his tracks. Let's hope we find something at the mall."

"Didn't you say she was the best?" Johnson frowned.

"She is, trust me," Derek grumbled. "She'll find him. He's just good, so she needs more time."

"Yeah, but time is what we don't have, right?" Johnson pointed out.

"If you think you can do better, why don't you go in there and track him down from only an email address with a fake ID and an IP address being redirected throughout the whole damn world?" Derek ranted.

"Whoa, hey, I'm sorry, okay?" Johnson grinned at Derek, raising his hands defensively. "I didn't know."

"You didn't know what?" Derek snarled.

Johnson chuckled. "That you and she were involved."

Derek opened his mouth to put the younger police officer in his place, but the ringing of his cell phone kept him from doing so. "Talk to me, goddess!" Derek answered the call, putting her on speaker and ignoring Johnson's knowing look.

"Clark Mason, 1462 S Wabash Ave," Penelope told him.

"We're on our way." Derek turned the large SUV and drove off in the opposite direction.

"How did you get that address so fast?" Johnson wanted to know.

"Well, after I finally realized that if he can escape with the little boys unnoticed, even with all the police around and everyone watching out for their children so much, he certainly looks like someone you would trust, someone who seems to belong there. Also, if he's this skilled with computers, he is certainly a computer science student. I just had to cross check the list of employees with the very short list of computer science students in Chicago." Penelope's voice was so fast, it was a miracle she didn't stumble on her words.

"Now, it was a little harder for me to find him, because he quit his studies a while ago, but he still works at the mall," she added.

"How's that possible?" Johnson frowned. "We interviewed every employee there and came up empty. I don't even remember someone named Mason."

"Because he's not on the regular list," Penelope replied. "He works as a clown, Santa Claus, whatever they need to get parents come to the mall with their children. It's a popular job, especially for students, and the profile said he was in his mid-twenties, so I thought it might be one of them. The mall has five people on that list; they call them 'temporary equipment.' Nice term. Anyway, there's only one of the students working in the mall who studied computer science. He's your guy."

"Thanks, Baby Girl." Derek gave Johnson a triumphant grin. "I knew you would find him."

"Always at your service, Hot Stuff." He could almost hear the wide grin on her face. "Kwaheri. That's Swahili for goodbye."

"Wait!" Johnson's interjection kept Penelope from hanging up. "We'll need some…"

"Backup?" she interrupted him. "It's on its way and should arrive within the next five minutes. I also sent for a psychologist, in case the boy needs one, and his parents. Anything else?"

Johnson just stared, open-mouthed, at the phone.

"No, you thought about everything," Derek replied. "Bye, girl." He hung up and grinned at Johnson. "I told you, she was the best."


	9. Questions

**Title: **Questions

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #6 Seconds

**Rating:** T, to be sure

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 9/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Looks like I'm getting better, huh? It's only partly thanks to the fact that despite the craziness of the last days, my muse was in the mood to work overtime. It's also mostly thanks to my wonderful and very fast beta-reader._

_Once again thank everyone of you for hanging in there with me. The story is almost finished, can you believe it? Only one chapter to go. *sighs*_

_Hope you'll enjoy reading!_

"We were too late," Derek whispered into the crook of her neck.

"No, you weren't," Penelope softly objected. "You saved the boy."

"Did we?" Derek raised his head to look up at her. "When we arrived, he was in bed with this boy, and…"

"Don't," Penelope interrupted him. "Don't think about what Mason already had done to the boy. Think about what you kept him from doing. If you hadn't been there and gone in, even though the backup wasn't there, this boy would be dead right now. Not to mention the many potential victims you saved."

"I know," Derek sighed. "I just… can't stop thinking we were too late. If I had been able to work this case, if I hadn't let him get to me like this, we would have found him sooner."

"Yeah, or maybe we wouldn't have found him at all," Penelope reminded him. "If you hadn't taken this message seriously, we'd never have talked to Buford."

"I don't know." He freed himself from her embrace, to sit up in his bed. "This guy just left the note referring to Buford to bar me from working the case – and it worked. What kind of profiler am I if it's that easy to throw me off track?"

"What kind of person would you be if that had left you cold?" Penelope softly placed a hand on Derek's shoulder so that he turned back to her again. "You remember that case in Alaska, when you told me you were proud of me, because despite everything I had seen, I came back and got the job done?"

He nodded, softly smiling at the memory. "I was about to kiss you then."

"I'm sure you were." Penelope pecked his lips, before she became serious again. "Why can't you be just as proud of yourself? You got the job done, despite the fact that it made you face your past and everything Buford did to you."

Derek sighed again. "It's been so many years, and still, I'm not strong enough to get over it. I can't even face him, because I still feel like the thirteen year old boy I was when he… abused me. See, I can't even name it without hesitation. He still has power over me and… that really sucks, you know?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. Derek, you probably won't like to hear this, but… have you considered talking to someone about everything? A specialist, I mean."

Derek looked down and bit his lip. For a moment, the room was dead silent.

Penelope's body tensed. At least he hadn't yelled at her right away, but she could tell she had struck a nerve. What would she do if he refused? Or didn't react at all? She couldn't just drop the matter because he didn't want to talk about it. This was still a burden for him. He needed help – and Penelope wasn't sure she could offer that help.

"I'm not sure I can do that," Derek finally mumbled.

Carefully, Penelope took his hand in hers. "I can… go with you, if you want me to."

Derek looked up at her again. For a few seconds, he just studied her eyes. "I really don't know what I'd do without you, Baby Girl," he finally said. "I love you, more than anything else."

"I love you, too," she whispered and leaned in to kiss him.

Pulling her onto his lap, Derek let his hand slide under her skirt. "I need you, Baby Girl."

She knew he was avoiding answering her question, but she honestly didn't care right now. She would address the matter later again; much later.

Derek fished in his pocket for the small box he had taken out of his mother's locker this morning. This wasn't exactly the most romantic moment, not considering the heat that had built up between them. But to him, it seemed like the right moment, nonetheless.

A soft knock on the door made them jump apart. Penelope quickly rearranged her skirt.

"Come in," Derek snarled.

The door opened slowly, and Fran carefully stuck her head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but… there's someone at the door who wants to talk to you."

Derek snorted, obviously annoyed. "Can't that wait?"

"No, not this time," Fran replied resolutely.

"Okay, we'll be there in a minute," Penelope assured her.

Nodding, Fran closed the door behind her.

"I don't like being interrupted like this," Derek mumbled. "Especially not when I'm with you."

Penelope giggled softly. "We can continue that later, stud muffin."

"It's not fair teasing me like that and then sending me packing." Derek grabbed her waist and pulled her close against him. "I was far from being finished."

Smiling seductively, Penelope leaned closer to him and whispered, "I'm not turning you down, sugar muffin. This is just… a little foreplay." Then she walked past him and opened the door. "Come on, it's rude to let people wait."

"You're killing me, you know that, right?" Derek growled.

His chagrin about being interrupted was gone when he saw the visitors in his mother's living room. He froze in the door, not able to walk towards them.

The boy turned around, ran towards Derek, and hugged him.

Relieved, Derek kneeled down and returned the boy's embrace.

"I'm Caitlyn Roberts," the woman spoke up. "I'm Alex's mother."

Released from the boy's embrace, Derek stood up again and carefully stepped forward. "Yeah, I… I know who you are. I saw you at… when we found Alex."

"We're here to thank you, Agent Morgan." Mrs. Roberts gave him a watery smile. "You saved our boy."

"I… I just… I'm glad Alex is all right," Derek replied.

"He is," his father said, nodding. "The doctors say he won't have any long-term effects – not physically, anyway. Thank you, Agent Morgan." The man stepped forward, offering his hand to Derek.

Derek shook it and quietly replied, "I'm glad to hear that. I know it's gonna be hard, but… Alex is a tough kid. You'll get through this."

"We'll go to therapy," Mrs. Roberts told him. "To help Alex get over this. He… he has refused to speak so far, but… we're sure that will pass."

Derek felt someone pulling at his shirt. He looked down to meet Alex's bright blue eyes. When the boy pulled at his shirt again, Derek leaned down to him.

"They want me to talk to a psychologist," Alex whispered into his ear.

Derek thought about his words for a moment, before answering. "Maybe that's a good idea. It might help you get over it, if you talk about what happened to you. That man can't hurt you anymore; you're safe. I know it's nothing you want to talk about, but maybe it'll help."

"But I don't want my parents to hear that," Alex explained.

Nodding knowingly, Derek suggested, "Why don't you just tell them? Tell them you want to talk to the psychologist in private first. I'm sure they'll understand."

Alex thought about his words for a second, before whispering, "I don't like the psychologist."

Smiling at the boy, Derek promised, "I'll get you someone else. I promise."

Derek stood up and turned to Alex's parents. "Maybe you should consider letting Alex see another psychologist. Don't get me wrong, Dr. Winters is a good doctor, but… I recommend Dr. Samantha Jones. She's a friend of mine and specializes in children who experienced abuse of any kind." Derek fished a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Roberts.

"We'll call her," Mrs. Roberts promised, taking the card from Derek. "Maybe Alex will talk to her." She looked down at her son, smiling warmly. "He talked to you, after all."

"You know," Derek carefully started. He ran a hand over his head, trying to figure out how to tell them what Alex had asked him for. "I really don't want to tell you how to deal with the situation, but… have you considered letting Alex talk to the psychologist in private first? Maybe it will be easier for him to talk about what happened if you… don't hear what he has to say, at least at first."

"Was that why he refused to talk to the psychologist?" Mr. Roberts wanted to know.

Derek looked down at Alex. The boy just nodded.

"Honey, why didn't you just say so?" Mrs. Roberts asked, hugging her son.

"I didn't want you to be… hurt," Alex told them.

"Alex, all we want is for you to be all right," she explained. "If you don't want to talk to us, but rather to a psychologist, that's fine."

"Thank you," Alex whispered, turning back to Derek again.

"Anytime, buddy." Derek softly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Thank you, Agent Morgan." Mrs. Roberts held her hand out to Derek again. "For everything!"

"You're welcome." Derek smiled and watched them leave his mother's house again.

"They're gonna be fine," Penelope softly said, leaning against Derek as she waved them goodbye.

"I know." Smiling, Derek wrapped his arm around his girl to pull her closer. "Thank you."

Raising her head to look at him, Penelope asked, "For what?"

"For inviting them so I could see Alex was okay." He leaned down to softly peck her lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered against his lips. "It was their own decision."

"Yeah? And how did they know where my mom lives?" he chuckled.

"I don't know," Penelope assured him innocently.

"Hmmm, liar." Derek leaned down, stopping just millimeters apart from her lips. "I love you." He crossed the distance between them to kiss her softly.

Penelope moaned softly. When they broke the kiss, she whispered, "I think we were interrupted at something important."

"Yeah, I remember." Penelope had no idea how important it really had been. Carefully, he searched his pocket for the box he'd wanted to give her several minutes ago.

Fran smiled as she watched her son and Penelope, and then she cleared her throat.

They both turned her head towards Fran, and Penelope blushed slightly. She had forgotten they still weren't alone.

"Dinner is ready," Fran told them. "But I can… save some for you if you… want to eat later."

Derek sighed. He was never gonna make it if they were kept getting interrupted. "No, no, we'll be there in a minute," Derek assured his mother.

Nodding, Fran disappeared into the kitchen. She knew her son well enough to know when she should just leave them alone, without asking any questions.

Penelope wanted to follow her, but Derek grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Just a second, Baby Girl." Derek took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"What's wrong?" she could tell from the look on his face that he was worried about something.

"I've been planning on doing this all day long. I wouldn't have survived this without you. I can't tell you what it meant to me that you came here to look after me. You always know when I need you the most, and you always care more about me than about yourself.

"I love you, Penelope. You've become one of the most important people in my life, and there are very few of them. I can't imagine a single day without you, and I don't want to. That's why I wanted to ask you something."

He kneeled down in front of her and opened the black box he had taken out of his pocket, to reveal a small diamond ring. "Penelope Garcia, will you marry me?"

Penelope gasped, and the next moment, tears ran down her cheeks. "Yes," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, of course!"

Sighing with relief, Derek returned the embrace and softly kissed her lips. Then he took the ring from the box and put it on her finger.


	10. Answers

**Title: **Answers

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Table:**Time

**Prompt for 10 I love you:** #9 Years

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time. No copyright infringement is intended. The story is mine, though.

**Summary:** Part 10/10 of the Chicago series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _I'm almost sad to say that, but here we see another story end. This one was one of my personal favorites (is it arrogant to say that?). I can't even tell you why. Maybe it was the shower scene. ;) Or maybe it is because I like writing about Morgan dealing with his demons. I also like some good drama, you know that._

_Anyway, what I like most is the happy ending – so here you go. Despite the fact that there are several things our favorite couple has to worry about when returning to D.C., there is a lot of fluffiness in this chapter._

_I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Once again thank you for all your support and encouragement to keep writing._

_Hugs,_

_Caro_

"You know, I was about to give the ring to Sarah," Fran admitted, smiling at the couple on her couch. "I thought you were serious when you said you never wanted to get married."

"I was," Derek told her, and then turned to look at Penelope. "But that was before I met this girl right next to me."

"Well, I'm glad she could change your mind," Fran said, raising her glass.

"I'll drink to that!" Derek grinned at his mother, and then pecked Penelope's lips.

A dreamy smile appeared on Fran's face. "Oh, I wish your sisters could see you now."

"Mom…" Derek rolled his eyes.

"Just to see how happy you are," Fran told him defensively. "Too bad you have to head back to Washington tomorrow."

"Speaking of that," Derek replied, putting his glass on the living room table and standing up, "we really need to go to bed. Our flight will take off at nine tomorrow."

Fran stood up as well. "You know you can stay here for as long as you want, right? I'm just saying, after everything that happened lately, your boss would have to grant you some time off."

"Mom, he would give us as much time off as we need, and you know that." Derek sighed. "But there's too much we have to… sort out before we can think about a vacation."

"Yeah, maybe after that, we'll have several years to think about vacations," Penelope mumbled.

Fran blinked at her in confusion.

"Don't worry, Baby Girl," Derek told her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "They're not gonna fire us. They can't afford it."

"Fire you?" Fran exclaimed.

Penelope blushed slightly. "Yeah, well, us getting married isn't exactly approved by the authorities."

"It's against the frat rules," Derek specified. "Rules against relationships between agents working in the same team."

"Rules that can get us fired, if we violate them," Penelope reminded him.

"Don't you worry." Derek gently nudged her nose. "We won't be fired. These rules are stupid, anyway. I mean, of course, you can forbid people to have a relationship, but you can't tell them not to love each other."

"Honey, you don't need to convince me." Penelope smiled at him. "You need to convince Strauss, and that's gonna be hard, considering that she's the only woman in the world who can resist your charm."

"Yeah, mine, but not Rossi's," he said with a grin. "Let him take care of her."

"Okay, but if you don't get fired, I expect you to go on a long vacation after that," Fran sternly told her son and his soon to be wife.

"Yes, ma'am," Derek said, rolling his eyes once more. "And thanks for your concern about the prospect of us losing our jobs."

"You know what I mean," Fran told him, putting him off. "You need a vacation. Period."

"Mom, we can take care of ourselves," Derek tried to argue with her.

"I know you can." Smiling, Fran petted her son's arm. "The thing is, you don't. I'm just worried about you, okay? That's what a mother is good for."

Smiling, appeased, Derek pecked his mother's cheek. "And I thought your cooking was the main reason I come to visit you."

"That's part of the caretaking, you know," Fran explained, winking at him.

"Yeah, I figured that much," Derek said, again rolling his eyes.

Fran giggled softly, putting an arm around Penelope. "You're lucky, though. Since I have a new daughter to take care of now, you'll only get half of the motherly advice."

"Thank you," Penelope sniffled. "It's been a long time since I had a real family."

"Trust me, Baby Girl, this family is gonna get on your nerves in no time at all," Derek chuckled.

"I can't see that happening," Penelope objected, smiling.

"You haven't met my sisters yet," Derek teased.

Winking at Fran, Penelope shrugged. "I have a feeling that we're gonna get along quite well."

"What was that?" Warily, Derek eyed Penelope and his mother. "Only one week, and the two of you are already ganging up against me? I'm going to remember this!"

"Oh, poor baby." Penelope petted Derek's cheek. "Now you have to put up with another woman in this family."

"Ah, wait until Des and Sarah are married. Then the men are gonna gang up against you." Derek grinned triumphantly.

Fran and Penelope giggled. "Sorry, honey, but it's still gonna be three against four." Fran dispelled his hopes.

"There would be no use, anyway." Smiling, Derek put his arm back around Penelope and kissed the top of her head. "There is no man in the world who can cope with the force that is Penelope Garcia."

"You betcha!" Penelope grinned at him.

They wished Fran a good night's sleep and walked up the stairs, arguing about who would take the bathroom first.

Smiling to herself, Fran cleaned up the living room, and then went to bed herself. It had been a very long time since she'd last seen Derek so happy. Penelope was good to him, and for him – and Derek was completely at her feet. It was obvious that they were not only in love with each other, but that there was a much stronger bond between them.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked a few minutes later, wrapping his arms closer around Penelope.

"Of course." She turned a little to face him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're pretty silent," he stated. "That's all. I… It's just unusual."

"I was just thinking." Penelope snuggled up closer against him. "It's been a long time since I really felt at home somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I love the team, they're like a family to me, but…"

"They aren't really a family," Derek finished the sentence for her. "When they go home, they all have their own lives."

"Yeah, everyone except for me, so far," she added in a whisper. "I… I guess I had forgotten how good it feels to belong somewhere."

"Hey, you've been a part of this family for years. I thought you knew that." Derek softly nuzzled her neck.

Closing her eyes happily, Penelope whispered, "Just not the way I'd wanted to be."

"I'm sorry," Derek whispered against her skin, "for being so blind – and so stupid."

"I just… never thought we would… end up here, getting married, I mean." Penelope chuckled slightly. "I thought I was lucky to call you my best friend – I had no idea how lucky I actually could have been. I mean, I never thought you would… you know, be interested in me."

He raised his head to look at her. "What? You still think I wouldn't cross a crowded room to hit on you?"

"I don't know," Penelope replied honestly. "Would you? I mean, would you have if you'd never worked this case?"

Derek braced himself on his elbow to look at her. "When I said I loved you, I meant it. I didn't ask you out because I felt like I had to make up for anything, but because I wanted to show you how much you really mean to me.

"I know, it wasn't the best time to ask you, and I understand what it looked like to you. Apparently, when it comes to real relationships, I'm not as good with women as I thought."

"That's not true," Penelope objected, turning her head so she didn't have to look at him. "I had been waiting for you to ask me out for as long as I've known you. And when you finally said those words, I wanted to accept the invitation so badly. But I thought… I don't know. I was afraid you just did that to prove me wrong and to appease me. I just didn't want to promise myself and get hurt."

Derek cupped her cheek with his hand and made her look at him again. "I would never knowingly or willingly hurt you, ever," he assured her.

"I know that," Penelope whispered. "It's just… I never thought it was possible that you… You know. You're just… out of my league."

"Hey." Derek silenced her by putting his finger over her mouth. "I love you very much. And in case you haven't noticed yet…" He let his hand run up and down her body, making her shiver. "I can't keep my hands off of you."

Leaning down so close that his lips were almost touching hers, he added, "Yes, I love you. Yes, I want you; and yes, I need you. No, I don't care what people might think or about the whole geek and jock thing. All I care about is you, because I know we're meant to be. Any further questions?"

"No," she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut.

"I had no idea you felt this way about me," he whispered into her ears. "I'm sorry for being so blind all these years."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea how you can make up for that," Penelope panted, rather than said.

"Yeah?" He grinned, letting his hand move further down. "Am I getting closer?"

"Most… definitely." She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out.

"What do you think?" Derek asked much later. "How many years did we make up for already?"

"Hm, at least two," she mumbled, snuggling up closer against him.

"Well, then, we have to try a little harder, I guess," he chuckled, starting to run his hand up and down her body again.

"Hey, easy, stud." Penelope playfully slapped his chest. "Who said we need to make up for the past years in one night?"

"I know," he said, grinning down at her, "but like I said, I can't keep my hands off of you."

"As much as that flatters me, I'd like to get some sleep tonight," she mumbled against his chest, already half-asleep. "You wore me out."

"It's not my fault," Derek whispered. "I just can't seem to get close enough to you."

"You know, that's actually the cutest thing anyone ever said to me." Penelope sighed contentedly.

"I'm just telling the truth," he replied honestly.

Derek could feel his Baby Girl smiling against his chest, and – smiling himself – he wrapped his arms tighter around her and closed his eyes.

But neither of them found any sleep that night. Penelope was mulling over their future – or the question if they even had one. Strauss would never approve of them getting married. She hated the team – and she had some major problems with Penelope.

She sighed sadly.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, appalled.

Raising her head, Penelope frowned at him. "You're awake?"

"So are you." Derek smiled at her and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "So what is it that's keeping you awake?"

Sighing once more, Penelope laid her head back on his chest, and mumbled, "I was just… worrying."

"About what?" Derek pressed her. "The wedding?"

"Yeah," she replied voicelessly. When she realized how that must have sounded to him, she quickly added, "No. I mean, not this way. I was just… What is the team going to say? And Strauss? What if she doesn't approve?"

"Hey," Derek said softly, making her look up at him again. "Don't worry about Strauss. We will get married, I promise. This will all work out."

"But…" she tried to object.

"No but," Derek interrupted her. "Maybe Strauss won't approve, but I honestly don't care about her. All I care about is you. And we will get married, no matter what. Even if it means that I'll have to quit my job with the BAU."

"What?" Penelope exclaimed. "You… You can't quit. I mean, you love this job."

"True," Derek agreed, nodding, "but still it's just a job. I love you more. If I am forced to choose between you and this job, there's no question about what my decision will be."

Tears sprung to her eyes, but she didn't mind wiping them away. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too." Derek smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her softly.

Penelope couldn't believe how lucky she was. Derek was willing to give up everything he loved just to be with her. Of course, she wouldn't let him. But now she knew that nothing could keep them from spending the rest of their lives together.

Knowing all this, it didn't take long before Penelope finally fell asleep, a wide smile still on her face.

"Well, this is the moment of truth." Derek took a deep breath, before he stepped through the big glass door inside the bullpen.

The rest of the team was standing around Reid's desk, seemingly waiting for him and Penelope to return.

After many hugs and greetings, Hotch finally said, "Welcome back, both of you. You did a good job in Chicago; the local police seemed pretty happy with your work."

"No wonder, considering the outcome," Rossi added, smiling wryly. "You helped them catch a serial killer, and it turns out that they didn't have a mole, but this guy was just clever enough to hack their computers without them noticing. They wouldn't have caught him without you."

"Ah, now you're exaggerating," Penelope said modestly.

"And,"**—**Hotch grinned at them, something that was very unusual**—**"you finally got together. Congratulations, it's about time!"

Both their jaws dropped. "How… did you…" they stuttered.

"Well, it wasn't too hard to guess," Rossi answered, shrugging.

Meanwhile, JJ pressed a glass of champagne in their hands. "This has to be celebrated."

"When Derek called to tell me that you solved the case and were heading back home, I noticed quite a few changes," Hotch told them. "He seemed much more light-hearted than normal after a case like this – and every second word he used was your name."

"We just had to put two and two together," Rossi added. "Well, or one and one in this case. Besides, the ring on your finger is pretty telling."

Derek eyed them suspiciously. "My mom called you."

"Yes," Hotch and Rossi admitted, chuckling slightly.

"Don't be mad at her," JJ jumped in. "I had to pump her for a good while, before she finally spilled the beans."

"Yeah, and after that, she had to tell everyone," Emily teased, rolling her eyes. "We had to stop her from making a bigger deal out of it than this." She pointed at the glass in her hand.

"I still think you would have enjoyed the boy band," JJ giggled. "But I admit the banner would have been a bit overdone."

"Wow," Penelope commented, "and I was worrying about how to tell you and how you might react."

"Are you kidding?" Reid burst out. "We all made bets on when you two will finally realize that you're absolutely meant for each other."

"Really?" Derek raised an eyebrow at him. "You made bets."

"Oh…" Reid mumbled, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

"Well," JJ sighed, "I'm glad I lost the bet. I thought you'd never realize it."

"Oh, and don't worry about Strauss," Rossi told them. "After we all appealed to her conscience, she gave in without a fuss. Or maybe she gave up, same difference."

"That was a lot easier than I imagined it to be," Derek mumbled, clinking his glass to Penelope's. "To us, Baby Girl!"

"To you finally getting together!" JJ agreed. "And don't you ever think of breaking up! You just cost me twenty dollars."

Grinning, Derek put his arm around Penelope's waist. "Don't worry, that's not gonna happen."


End file.
